| South Africa beat Ivory Coast |
| Tuesday, 20 January 2009 | |
 South Africa discounted their critics with a fashionable displayagainst Cote D I'voire to take an early Group B leadership of the AYCin Kigali, Rwanda Monday. Coming to Kigali asunderdogs and possibly under pressure from home, the South African sidedisplayed the best football to shut out Cote D Ivoire and launchthemselves into a possible semi final bracket.Theircoach Serame Letsoaka was philosophical when he said" our target is toget to the semis and a World cup ticket. If we win the crown that willbe a new year bonus for the people of South Africa." Indeed,South Africa inspired by a solid midfield revolving around SereroThulani and Claasen Dylon were really outstanding in their movement andwould have won with a big margin if their forwards did not waste ahandful of chances. Cote D Ivoire too, had a goodshare of possession by they were denied by South African goalkeperThela Ngobeni who had an outstanding game between the posts. The YoungElephants looked shaky from the start and it took them almost half anhour to find their rythm. But when they did, they were unable to matchthe pace and speedy of South Africa who were really determined to grabthe three points. In the earlier match, Nigeriarouted Egypt, the World cup hosts next year in an absorbing showdown.The Nigerians dominated the proceedings from the early stages and itwas no surprise when they took first hald lead. Relyingon a strong defendce marshalled by Nwankwo Obiora Nkume Emenike andEdet Ibok, the Nigerians looked fabulously tight against the Egyptianside who lacked the penetration power. The Nigeriansseeking to reach the finals next year stamped their authority on thegame and still looked stronger even in the final stages of the matchwhen the Egyptians desperatedly rallied their troops upfront. TheEgyptians suffered a second hald set-back when they lost skipper anddefence pillar El Sayed Gabr Henawy Moaz through injury and they had tofight cautiously against a rampant Nigerian side. The defeat has put Cote D Ivoire and Egypt in a tight corner as they will seek to cancel out each other. |
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